Budget 2024: Real Brits react to sweeping changes - 'I'll have to work longer' to 'they've listened'

After Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the Budget today, Brits told us what the Government's measures mean for them, their families, their jobs and living conditions

Rachel Reeves announced £40 billion a year in extra taxes as she increased Government borrowing and spending to "rebuild Britain".

The Chancellor's plans will see the tax burden reach an historic high, while borrowing increases by an average £32.3 billion a year as spending increases by around £70 billion annually over the next five years. Ms Reeves said the measures were necessary to address the "black hole" in the public finances left by the Tories while pumping billions into schools and hospitals.

She confirmed plans to hike employers' national insurance contributions and increase capital gains tax, while also making changes to inheritance tax and stamp duty. But what do Brits think of the Budget? Here is what they told us.

'I'll need to take on fewer staff and work longer hours'

Name: Rosie Nagaty

Age: 36

Job: Publican

Income: Rosie said she rarely takes a wage but pub turns over £500,000 a year

Rent/mortgage: £3,000 per month

Status: Married with two children (Toby, 15, and Wilf, 8)

Rosie and her husband John, 46, have been running the Old George Inn in Sykehouse, near Doncaster, since 2021. During this time, their business has faced similar challenges to those seen by the struggling pub industry, such as rising bills, fewer customers through the door due to the cost-of-living crisis and needing to call last orders early on quieter days of the week.

She said the Budget did not go far enough in terms of helping the hospitality industry, saying she had hoped for a VAT cut for pubs. Rosie is also concerned about an increasing staffing bill following the minimum wage increase. She explained: "This will have a massive impact as the wage bill is already really high.

"During the summer period, we take on a lot of seasonal staff who tend to be younger. I'd be looking at taking on fewer staff and I already work 12 hours a day, but it means I'd have to work even more hours myself."

At the moment due to business rates relief, Rosie pays around £1,600 a year. While Labour are maintaining relief, this will be 40% instead of the current 75% due to end on March 31. Rosie said: "I estimate my business rates will go up to around £6,000 at the end of March, meaning I will have to find another £500 a month, which will be difficult.

"The hike will come at a bad time after January and February, which are quieter months for us but also when the breweries tend to do their annual price increases." Rosie also said the 1.7% cut to draught duty will have no impact on her pub. She said: "Beer duty cuts don't help the publican as the end retailer, as suppliers always put up prices anyway and this is usually anywhere from 5 and 15p a pint."

Rosie and John have had to diversify their business, such as operating as a campsite in the summer and opening a cafe on the site. She said: "This diversification has helped us survive, if we were only a pub, we wouldn't be able to survive the winter - just being a village pub isn't a business model anymore.

"We are in a fortunate position where we have the space to explore other avenues with our business, but I think we will see a lot more pub closures over the next year based on these increases - pubs are already really struggling."

'Budget means more pain for social care providers'

Name: Robert Stephenson-Padron

Age: 44

Job: Managing director of home care agency and runs Belsize Village Association

Income: Higher income

Mortgage: £1,950 per month

Status: Single

Robert said: "Sadly for social care providers like Penrose Care which I run, Rachel Reeves' first Budget means more pain. An increase of Employers National Insurance to 15% and lowering the threshold at which employers start paying NI on each employee’s salary from £9,100 to £5,000 will mean higher cost for social care providers which have large wage bills and usually weak financial positions overall.

"But the increase in the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500 is a positive mitigating factor. I encourage the Government to increase this allowance further to social care providers which tend to have high wage bills but low margins.

"For high street small businesses, there are positives in Rachel Reeves' first Budget should the rise in the Employment Allowance offset or more than offset the increase in Employers NI rates. A reform of business rates and decriminalising shoplifting are big positives for British high streets like Belsize Village in north London."

'Rachel Reeves has listened to people'

Name: Lowri Williams

Age: 53

Job: Part-time at a music charity

Income: Minimum wage and on Universal Credit

Mortgage: £780 per month

Status: Single, one child

Lowri Williams told The Mirror: "She [Rachel Reeves] has listened – I always thought Sunak never listened to normal people. She is well aware of what is going on – there are a lot of people slating Labour left right and centre but what people are forgetting is that the other option is to walk into a hole of no money.

"I've spent the last however many years waking up each day wondering what the Tories will do next. They pilfered everything and you never felt as a normal person on the street that they were ever in touch with your situation.

"The cost of food, fuel, interest rates, energy bills means I have to find about £500 a month to cover these extra payments, but I haven't got a spare £500 in the bank. The Budget has, for the first time in 14 years, given me hope of a brighter future."

'Taking with one hand and giving with the other'

Name: Lucinda Bray

Age: 36

Job: MD Happy Mum's Foundation (a social enterprise dedicated to maternal mental health)

Income: £18,000, topped up with £260 Universal Credit

Mortgage: £650-a-month

Status: Single mum to Harry, eight

Single mum Lucinda said she was pleased with the reduction on how much could be taken from Universal Credit payments to repay debt. But, as an employer, she said she would have to speak to the accountant to see if the National Insurance changes affected them.

She said: “I’m pleased with the reduction in repayments because that was always out of your control. They’d make the mistake but you wouldn’t get any help. They’ll still be taking the money back, but it will be in smaller amounts.

“As an employer we’ll have to look at the National Insurance threshold. We’ve only got five employees and we are a charitable enterprise. It looks like they’re taking with one hand and giving with the other.

“I agree with the increase of the minimum wage. Food prices are still rising in my view, weekly bills are still expensive, especially if you try and eat healthy.

“I’m also pleased that more has been put into addiction needs in schools. That should empower schools to think about what they can do properly.

“She has inherited a mess. Four years ago half the country was on furlough. We all knew that was all going to come back on us in tax at some point. I wouldn’t know how to fix the problems, but as a single parent on a low income I think I’ll be a few pounds better off.”

'I welcome Labour making the NHS a priority'

Name: Denise Clarke

Age: 60

Job: Unemployed

Income: £890 a month Universal Credit

Rent: £810 per month

Status: Lives with son, 29

Cancer patient Denise Clarke, 60, praised Rachel Reeves's pledge to bring down NHS waiting lists. Denise, from Lewisham, South London, has been reliant on the health service after being diagnosed with kidney cancer in August 2023.

The mother-of-four had to quit her Asda supermarket job as a consequence and is now reliant on Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment handouts. Denise said: "I think it's a fair budget under difficult circumstances.

"Money in the NHS and schools is vital because the situation is just dire, and health and education really matters. Putting up tobacco, soft drink taxes and vaping taxes doesn't bother me in the slightest.

"Ideally, I would want her to have gone further to help people on benefits. For me, there's nothing left after gas, electric, council tax and water bills. But I do have some sympathy because there's just not enough money to go around because of this £22bn black hole."

Denise, who is being treated at London's Guy's and St Thomas's hospitals, underwent an operation to remove cancerous tissue in May. But she was given a follow-up appointment next March. She also needs another scan but is still waiting for a date.

Denise welcomed the Chancellor's £25bn cash injection in the NHS and a promise to deliver an extra 40,000 elective appointments per week. She added: "I've seen how bad things are in the NHS first hand.

"The care has always been brilliant but the doctors and nurses are rushed off their feet. They are absolutely overworked. So I welcome them making the NHS a priority."

'There were pros and quite a lot of cons'

Name: Elliot Horner

Age: 26

Job: Bar and brewery owner

Income: £1million turnover

Mortgage: £400 mortgage

Status: Single

Small business owner Elliot Horner runs the Lune Brew Co craft brewery in Lancaster, employing 12 staff. He praised the chancellor for knocking a penny of a pint with a 1.7% cut in alcohol duty and continued business rates relief - though at a lower rate of 40% instead of the current 75%.

But the 26-year-old fears being impacted by the 1.2 percentage point hike in employer national contributions. Elliot, from Lancaster, Lancs, said: "I think there were pros and quite a lot of cons.

"The cut in alcohol duty directly helps us and as a brewery that will save us a little bit of money - not drastic amounts, but every penny helps. And the holding of business rates relief will hopefully help the pubs and bars we supply to continue going, even though it has been scaled back.

"But the increase in national insurance isn't great. We've got a lot of part-time bar staff and it will put a massive strain on us. I'm going to have to speak to our accountant to see how it's going to affect us. It may be that we will have to have fewer staff who work less hours, which isn't ideal."

Elliot, who also runs a bar called The Beer Hall, said he feared that the hospitality industry would struggle to meet a 6.7% increase in the national minimum wage. From April, the national living wage will increase to £12.21 per hour and the national minimum wage for 18-20 year-olds will increase to £10 per hour.

Elliot said: "The rise in the minimum wage is going to be difficult for us an industry. A lot of bars do employ younger people and they will struggle to pay higher wages and national insurance. Many will end up cutting their workforce because they won't be able to budget for higher wage costs. We will just have to see how it pans out."

'We have to budget every month and can't save'

Name: Chris Matthewman

Age: 39

Job: Maintenance controller

Income: £35,000

Rent: £1,000

Status: Married with three children

Chris Matthewman, 39, lives in Basildon, Essex with his wife Tracey, 39, a school teacher and their three daughters Alice, 10, Grace, 8, and Matilda, 5. He said his family had suffered a "turbulent year financially", as Chris lost his job in the summer when his former employer Carpetright went into administration - but he is about to get his first pay check from his new role as a maintenance controller.

Chris said his biggest reaction to the Budget was that of "relief" that there are no drastic changes and said the fact he won't have to pay more National Insurance is a massive help. One of Chris's big outgoings is his car - he pays £466 every month for his vehicle, excluding insurance and fuel.

He said: "The fuel duty freeze is good in terms of what I budget for each month not changing, but if it had come down it would have saved me a bit of money." However, Chris said he had hoped there would be more for working people in the Budget. He added: "I am disappointed we've not been helped out.

"We aren't at poverty level but we have to budget on a month-by-month basis and can't save. In particular, I wanted to see council tax cut in the Budget, as I pay around £70 more than I did three years ago. Even a 5% reduction would have been a big help."

Chris also said he would have also have liked to have seen some help with energy bills. He said: "We pay £139 a month gas and electric, but in 2021 we paid £79 for fuel bills. It is mind-boggling when you compare how much these essentials cost then to how much they cost now, and it is just getting worse."

'I want to retire but I have to keep working'

Name: Pritpal Kaur

Age: 73

Job: Part time shop assistant

Income: £700-a-month

Mortgage/rent: Owns home

Status: Lives with husband and daughter

Pensioner Pritpal is worried that there appears to be no help after she lost the winter fuel allowance. She is recovering after chemotherapy and fears she may not be able to afford her bills. She said: “There was nothing I saw about the winter fuel, I don’t know where I stand. I’m not really very well, my bones are hurting, and I need my house to be warm, I need my electric blanket and hot water bottle.”

The family fears Pritpal may also miss out on claiming pension credits. She said: “My daughter thinks the cut off limit for pension credits is £11,800 a year. My pension is £11,808, so do I miss out by £8? We will apply and see what happens, but it doesn’t seem fair. I want to retire but I have to keep working because we need the money.

I can’t see anything that helps me. It’s great that they're putting billions into the NHS, but the last government should have done that years ago. I don’t think they’re looking after the people who really need it.”

'Housing market needs fixing to help young people'

Name: Chris Saynor

Age: 48

Job: Luxury retreat owner

Income: £20,000 a year

Mortgage: £1,600 mortgage

Status: Lives with wife Vicky, 48, and four children, 12, 14, 16, 19,

Chris Saynor, who runs luxury Hertfordshire retreat Bethnal&Bec with wife Vicky, 48, rated Rachel Reeves's budget a six-and-a-half out of ten. The dad-of-four, 48, said: "65% in a GCSE is B, so that's pretty good.

"I think there were some missed opportunities but it was very pragmatic. Perhaps it could have been more adventurous but we've just had 14 years of chronic rubbish, so it's understandable. We are a consumer-facing business and our market is the typical working person.

"They're nurses, they're teachers, they are small business owners. What's in their pocket is what affects our business. Hopefully, if they have more disposable income than that will benefit us."

Self-employed Chris, from Buntingford, Herts, welcomed a freeze in fuel duty and plans to create a single adult wage rate, which will take place over time. He said: "The fuel duty is not going up, which will save us some money on our petrol.

"We have to us a lot of petrol because we only have three buses a day, going to one place. I'm glad that the wage for 18-to-20 years olds is going to match those aged 21 and over. My 18-year-old daughter was running a pub and being paid less than a 21-year-old she was managing, which made no sense.

"So I'm glad that is being addressed. I would have liked to have seen more on the housing market. The issue in our economy is the sheer amount of money people have to spend on housing as a percentage of their disposable income, and it doesn't ever seem to be addressed. We've got four kids, the eldest is 19 and God knows when they will be afford to buy somewhere."

'It was a soft landing'

David Holliday of Norfolk brewery Moon Gazer Ales welcomed action on business rates in the Budget. Chancellor Rachel Reeves listened to fears over a “cliff edge” end to 75% business rate relief for hundreds of thousands of small businesses by extending it, but at a lower 40% level.

“It was my biggest concern for my publican customers so what was announced was welcome,” he said. “It was a soft landing.”

Mr Holliday also praised the Chancellor's commitment to reform business rates in the longer term. Aside from rates, he also cheered the cut in draught beer duty but warned it would be partially offset by higher alcohol duty overall.